The Same Language

It’s good to be back in Korea
A third time as charming as the first
Let the magic begin
In the fatherland I’m home
Blood so thick it transfuses me
The place where my paternal grandparents were born
Home where they pronounce my last name E
And everything I wanted to say to my grandparents but couldn’t
Can be said now to them here on their native soil
We talk the way we never could when I was young
Their English limited and my Korean non-existent
Here we speak the same language, the words of blood
Run through us here, a sacred bond
A harmony of understanding
They’re alive again in my geographically enhanced vision
They tell me all their stories
I wish I’d heard when I was young
Every word, every nuance clear
I tell them all mine, too
We laugh and joke easily
The way we never could
My Korean dream made
If not flesh, at least this close to it